Abstract

Thomas Hardy is one of the most distinguished English novelists and poets in the nineteenth century. His novel Tess of the d’Urbervilles (1891) is one of the best-known novels. Upon publication, Tess of the d’Urbervilles received mixed reviews partly because it challenged the sexual moral of late Victorian England. Since then many scholars have had great interest in the writer and the novel, and have studied them through various approaches and from various perspectives. The thesis intends to explore the novel from the legal perspective and consists of five parts. Part one is the introduction of Tess and previous researches on it. The second part is an analysis of the correspondence between Victorian laws and what happens in the text, including laws concerning the land property, the rape crime, and the divorce. The third part explores the discrepancy between Victorian laws and what happens in the text. The fourth part is my study on law and literature. The last part is the conclusion of this thesis.  

Keywords: Victorian era; Tess of the d’Urbervilles; legal perspective; law and literature

Contents

Abstract

摘  要

1. Introduction-1

2. Correspondence between the Victorian laws and what happens in the text-1

2.1 Land Property-1

2.2 Crime of Rape-2

2.3 Divorce-4

3. Discrepancy between the Victorian laws and what happens in the text-4

4. law and literature-6

4.1 Hardy’s novel and law-6

4.2 Studies on law and literature-6

5.Conclusion-7

References-8